Ordnance-projectile.



J. A. STEINMETZ.

ORDNANCE PROJECTILE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8, 1914.

L l 1,001. Patented jan.2,1917.

Maxim? V G W 6% T D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ORDNANCE-PROJECTILE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

I Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed December 8, 1914. Serial No. 876,081.

V T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH A. STEINMETZ, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Ordnance-Pro ect1les, of which the followit will be freed andextended on the bursting of the shell by impact or internal explosion.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in axial section a shrapnelcase 5311- taining a long piece of barbed wire, Fig. :2 a small portionof the wire folded as it is in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows on a larger scale aportion of the preferred form of wire extended, Fig. 4. illustrates theform of the interlocked ends of two links, Fig. 5 shows a slightmodification in the wire, and Fig. 6 some further modifications in wireconstruction.

In these figures, A represents the body of a shrapnel case, which ispreferably Weakened along certain lines by grooving as shown at A.

B designates the shell head, shown in this instance as explosive, Cthehead-bursting charge, D a common fuse member, E a base and bodybursting charge, E a thin diaphragm covering the charge E, and F a tube,usually containing or internally coated with black powder, leading fromthe head charge to the base charge so that the bursting of the base andbody may be an instant later than the bursting of the head.

In the annular space between the body walls and the axial tube and alsobetween the diaphragm and the head, is placed a long.

segment or stretch of barbed wire arranged in a somewhat compact massapproximately filling, ordinarily, this entire space, and in many casesmade up of connected links each having nearly the length of the spaceinwhich the mass lies. In the preferred form,

. each link consists of a wire or rod having At each crossing, the rodis flattened and welded, the structure at'th'e crossing having athickness but little eater than the diameter of the wire. en'folded,this wire forms a falrly compact mass readily so disposed as to fill thespace in the body of the shell. Preferably the links vary in length tocorrespond with the spaces in larger or' smaller shells, but links aboutfive incheslong and adapted for use in three inch shells may be used inlarger shells, a part of the ordinary shrapnel balls being omitted, insuch case, to leave room for the wire. When the shell loaded as shown isused, the head first disappears as a head and an instant later the baseand body are scattered in fragments leavingthe wire mass free and mov-ving rapidly. The wire being comparatively light, the momentum of itsarts does not break it but the free end portions straighten out more orless perfectly extending the wire until its tensile resistance overcomesthe exuneven ground or where parts of the wire are held up by shrubs or,the like.

A battery can quickly spread wire over a large area and in places whereit could not otherwise be placed, such for example as a, zone protectedby the fire of an enemy. It can also be successfully placed at night byshells apparently directed at the enemy but falling short. While thelight wire is not adapted for purposes sometimes sought in using heavyprojectiles of the cha1n type, it is highly effective, by night or day,in opposing cavalry attacks or the placing of batteri es by the aid ofhorses, both by its d1- rect efi'ect before it reaches the ground andbyits later effect. If the wire falls upon cavalry, for example, theentanglement of one man or animal leads to the entanglement of others bythe same wire, especially since the barbs engage hook-like, in whicheverdirection the wire be drawn, and thus the command is quicklydisorganized. Ifde sired, the wire may be held'immovable in the shell byfilling the interstices with shot, sand, melted resin, orthe like, asindicated at K, Fig. 1, and if desired a small ball I may be attached toeach end of the wire, as shown in Fig. 5, to aid, by its momentum, inextending the wire, a result obviously attainableby making the terminalportions of the wire heavier by any suitable means.

The wire being light, the links may be of varied lengths and be coiledor bent backand forth as indicated at M, Fig. 6, so as to reduce thenumber of joints or connections to any desired extent, and'the linkswhatever their number may be twisted instead of welded, as indicated atN, or may be connected by short preferably barbed members in the properdirection, the wire being effective against light framework or fabricand destructive when caught in rapidly moving propelling mechanism. l

What I claim is: 4

described,

1. Ina projectile of the class the combination with a shell containingan explosive charge, of continuous barbed'wire inclosed within the shellarranged therein to be readily extended by the explosion of said chargeand having a length many times the greatest dimension of the latter, andmeans for exploding the shell. I

2. The' combination with an explosive shell,of amass of barbed wirearranged in the shell with many laterally free linearly connectedportions lying alongside each other in condition to be extended by theexplosion of the shell and having a length when extended many times thegreatest -dimension of the shell, said Wirev being rela v tively verylight and lacking the destructive momentum of'ordinary projectiles.

3. The combination with an explosive shell having a suitable. internalcavity, of a length of barbed wire folded many times upon itself,inclosed in said cavity, and in 4. The combination with an explosiveshell having a suitable cavity, of barbed wire having a terminal weightmade up of many connected links folded to form a compact mass andcontained in said cavity.

- 5. The combination with a shell containing a shell-destroyingexplosive and chainlike wire consisting of: many connected barbed linksfolded upon each other, par allel to the axis of the shell, and incondition to be readily extended, and means for detonating the shell. I

6. The combination with a projectile hav ing an explosive head, anexplosive base,

and an intermediate cavity, of a long stretch of barbed wire forming acompact mass, lo-

cated in said cavity'and adapted to' be readily extended, and means forexploding both head and base, to leavethe Wire mass free in the air.

7. The combination with a suitable ordnance "shell, of barbed wire chaininclosed in the shell and folded back and forth to form a mass vofapproximately parallel long links.

8. The combination with an ordnance shell having an elongated chamberbetween its In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

j V JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ.

Witnesses S. M. CRAIG, E. L. BLACK.

